Moving Mountains
by Paulina Ann
Summary: COMPLETE: Response to KAEX Challenge: Faith. Details about the challenge are in the Author's Notes. Allura overhears a conversation about faith moving mountains and is intrigued by it. When a robeast causes a serious problem, Allura puts faith to the test and comes up with questions for Keith.


**Moving Mountains**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.

 **Rating/Setting:** Rating is K. Setting is DotU. I'd say it's AU because there wasn't much talk of religion or faith in DoTU although it did really look like a church where Allura's pretend funeral was held.

 **Author's Notes:** This is my response to the KAEX challenge of: Faith. It's a "simple challenge of 'faith.' Whether that means faith in a religious sense, faith in a person or ideal, a love of George Michael or anything else the word 'faith' conjures up for you in the Voltron world. It needs to feature a KA pairing but the rest is up to you- brief or lengthy, comedy or drama, whatever."

* For those of you with differing religious opinions, just stop reading if you don't like it. Don't send me any flames.

"C'mon, Keith! I know you are the perpetual optimist, but 'faith can move mountains?'" Lance shook his head so that his shaggier than usual chestnut colored hair tumbled into his eyes. He ran his hand through his hair as he looked from Keith to Hunk as they sat in the lounge of the castle. "You're with me on this one, right big guy? I mean, you know that it takes more than faith to move a mountain. It takes strength."

Hunk shrugged as he put his hands behind his head and leaned back. "I don't know, Lance. Keith is a pretty bright guy-"

"Thanks a lot, Hunk," Keith interjected.

Hunk laughed and continued. "As I was saying, he's pretty bright. They don't just promote optimists to commander rank so maybe he has something."

Keith looked at his two subordinates and friends. "Faith has several meanings including religion in general. My faith is protestant. It's not just how I was raised, it's what I believe." When Lance rolled his eyes, he continued, "Faith is also about believing in things that you can't see but you know are true or real." He smiled at Lance, "Even you have to admit to having some faith when we're battling those robeasts."

"Yeah, well, that's different."

"Maybe for you, but not for me," Keith said.

Hunk glanced at the clock and said, "Well, I have faith that the buffet will be ready when we get downstairs."

The slight figure in the hallway didn't hear anything else as she hurried away.

.**********.

Allura could have just walked in and joined the conversation, but she hadn't. She had stayed in the hallway and eavesdropped. She had rarely heard Keith talk about such a personal topic and she hadn't wanted to spoil the moment. She would have to do some investigating to learn more about the faith he was a part of. However, she couldn't help but be drawn to the words 'faith can move mountains.'

.**********.

The evening meal had barely finished when the claxons sounded.

"Well, at least Lotor had the decency to wait until we finished our meal this time," Hunk exclaimed as the team ran from the room.

"I doubt decency has much to do with it," Pidge replied as he ran past his larger friend.

"Probably not," Hunk conceded.

As the team entered Castle Control, Coran was in the process of raising the dais. "Good luck!" he called down to them as they ran to their entry portals.

.***********.

"Argh!" Keith said through gritted teeth. "Seems like I'm the lucky object of the Drule's affection today," he said with grim humor.

"I agree," Lance said as he knocked yet another small Drule fighter out of the sky. "They're swarming the rest of us with the fighters while the big guns focus on you."

"I think you should move away from the area, Keith," Allura said as she patched into the video feed.

"Yeah, Cap'n," Hunk replied as he too patched in. "According to the readings, Black's power crystal has dropped to seventy-five percent."

"That's more than enough to power Black and Voltron if we need him," Keith replied as he dodged a laser shot from the Drule command ship.

Pidge joined in and completed the team in the video feed. "But that's only if we end the fight in the next fifteen to thirty minutes. Lotor brought two battle cruisers with him and what seems to be an inexhaustible supply of fighters."

"But they're not-" Keith broke off as a shot caught Black on his back leg and sent Keith spinning for a moment. When he righted the ship, he continued unfazed. "But they're not inexhaustible. We know they're not."

"Then let's form Voltron and chase those battle cruisers away," Lance supplied as an option.

"We can't, Lance," Allura said. "Any time one of us goes to help Keith, the fighters veer off toward the villages. We have to protect them and that means keeping them here on the flats."

"That's it!" Keith said.

"What?" questioned Hunk. "I think I'm missing something."

The excitement of figuring out what was going on was evident in Keith's voice. "Doom usually comes in above a town or village. They rarely come in over an unpopulated area. This isn't random; they WANT us here, guys."

"But why?"

"I think it's me," Keith replied. "They're after Black Lion."

"Well, what do we do, Keith?" Lance asked.

"Let's form Voltron and see if we can scare them away. Once we're in the combination process they won't be able to hurt us." Keith listened as the team agreed and then began the sequence.

The only time they would be vulnerable would be as they all moved into the formation to gain the needed altitude. They just had to make it to the needed height and they'd be untouchable. As the Lions streaked upwards becoming just color blurs, all the ships immediately focused all their firepower on the Black Lion.

Keith let out a strangled cry as the Black Lion fell from the sky. He was just able to fire a few thrusters to decrease his velocity before the Lion hit the ground hard. In fact, he didn't even know that he had crashed as his head hit the console upon impact sending him into unconsciousness.

"Keith! Keith!" Allura screamed through the com.

"Commander!" Lance yelled as he brought his Red Lion into a decent toward his friend and commander.

"What are the Drules doing?" Hunk asked.

"I don't know, but I'm heading to Keith," Lance called back.

"I think it might be important, Lance," Pidge added. "The ships are moving in closer to Keith's position."

"Then take them out," he replied through gritted teeth.

"What about the fighters headed toward the villages?" Hunk asked.

Allura's voice was shaky as she joined the communication. "I've contacted Coran and the villages have been evacuated. We need to protect Keith. Lotor's trying to take away our ability to form Voltron." In her own mind she added, _And he just hates Keith in general_.

The words had barely left her mouth when a barrage of fire came from the two battle cruisers. But the shots weren't directed at the Lion, they were directed at the mountain that the Lion had landed upon.

"Keith! Man, you've got to wake up!" Lance called from his Lion. He turned the Red Lion around; there wasn't much he could do for Keith with the amount of fire being laid down on the mountain. "They're trying to bury him. We've got to stop them. Turn all weapons on the cruisers! Ignore the fighters!"

As the Lions turned all their firepower on the large Doom ships, Allura voiced a question. "Pidge, what is the reading on Black's power crystal?"

"Just a minute," Pidge responded. "The power level is at sixty-five percent. He doesn't have any power problems. At least not yet."

"What do you mean, 'Not yet?'" Lance asked as he took out a laser cannon on one of the cruisers.

"You know that Black is partially powered by lightning strikes. If he gets buried under the mountain, the power level will continue to drop as power leaks our through his damaged circuits."

Lance circle over the mountain where Black Lion was laying. The Lion had already dropped several hundred feet toward the valley below. He watched as couple more laser shots caused an avalanche of boulders to drop further while Black tumbled with them.

"We need to do _something_!" Hunk said over the com. "My scans show that the mountain beneath and above Keith is very unstable. It's only going to take a few more shots and he could be buried."

"Everyone attack the cruiser closest to Black," Lance ordered.

"But that will leave the other cruiser without any opposition," Pidge countered.

"Well, we're not opposing them too much like this. We have to get rid of them one at a time." The group complied with Lance's orders and soon the cruiser was leaving orbit with smoking holes in its side. "Now let's get that other cruiser out of the way so that we can take care of Keith."

"You fellas take care of the cruiser," Allura said evenly. "I'm going to Keith."

"There's nothing you can do there, Allura," Lance said.

"He's going to be buried," Allura replied. "There's no way to stop it from happening. I need to be with him."

Lance watched dumbfounded as Allura maneuvered her Blue Lion on the rubble where only the paw of the great Black Lion could be scene. "Allura!" he yelled as a blast from the cruiser sent at least half a mile of rubble onto the two mechas. "Crap!" Turning back to the battle, he ordered, "It's just us three. Let's take this baby out so we can rescue our two friends."

"Right on," Pidge replied as Hunk concurred.

With the three Lions able to focus on the one cruiser, it wasn't long before the ship was disabled enough that it had to leave. But it didn't leave without bringing more rocks down on the two covered Lions.

A beep sounded on Lance's com indicating an incoming transmission from the Drule ship. "Great. I'm sure they'll have words of inspiration for us," he muttered to himself as he accepted the call.

Lotor's face appeared on the screen. "You're down two Lions. If you surrender, we'll help you uncover them."

"Like we'd really do that," Lance shot back.

"Maybe you'd like a little time to reconsider?" When there was no response from Lance, he said, "No? Then let me give you something to do in the meantime." With an evil smile he cut the transmission.

"What did he mean by that?" Hunk asked.

"I don't think you should have asked that question," Pidge said apprehensively as a coffin launched from the rear of the cruiser. A ray of light enveloped it and it broke open.

As a robeast emerged, Lance said quietly, "You definitely shouldn't have asked that question."

.**********.

"What's going on guys? My sensors aren't working," Allura said through the com.

Lance pressed a button for video feed but nothing came through and he couldn't get a read on Keith or Allura under the debris. "Video signal isn't working and we can't scan you either, must be something in the rocks. Looks like audio only." Lance paused and looked at the large red lizard-like robeast with four arms and two swords. "As for what's going on up here I think I can sum it up as big, red, and ugly."

"Robeast," Allura said with resignation.

"Yep." Pidge and Hunk were circling the beast and taking some shots at trying to discover its abilities and weaknesses. It wasn't often that the Force was able to defeat a robeast with just the Lions and they had never defeated one with just three Lions attacking. "Do you have a plan for getting yourself and Keith out, Princess?"

"Um, not exactly. I just felt I should be next to him. I'm sorry I've left you guys out there to deal with the robeast."

Lance began an attack run on the red robeast. "If you can find a way to move a mountain, then all will be forgiven."

"What did you say?" Allura asked in surprise.

"I said I'd forgive you if found a way to move that mountain. Got to go now."

"Roger," Allura said absently. _Was it coincidence that I heard Keith talking about faith and mountains this morning?_ Allura wished she'd had a chance to research the phrase as well as Keith's Protestant heritage. They had churches on Arus, in fact her own funeral had been held in one of them. But her father had been more of a man of science and she did not know much about religion in general and Terran religions in particular. As she thought on it, she pondered how her father spoke to her from a spiritual realm. What did it all mean?

She shook her head. Her friends were out there fighting a robeast. She needed to get out there and help them. But Keith needed to be awake. Allura opened a direct challenge to Black Lion. "Keith. Come in, Keith. Please!" She waited a few moments and repeated. This went on for about ten minutes with Allura becoming more and more anxious. During a break, she stopped and closed her eyes. She lifted a silent prayer to whatever God Keith worshipped. _Help me, she prayed. Help me save him. Help me save my people._ When she next called out to Keith, there was a groan. "Keith? Keith! Answer me! I heard you! You've got to wake up!"

There was another moan. He was coming to. But that meant she needed to have a way to free them so that they could join the other in the fight against the robeast. She kept talking to Keith as she ran different weapons scenarios through the computer. "I have faith that we're going to get out of this. I have faith that we aren't meant to die yet. Help me," she once again prayed. Then it was as if the thought had been sent to her- water. Allura's fingers flew over the console as she input the water cannon. According to the computer and the last data the sensors stored before they stopped working, the water cannon could create enough of a tunnel and a collapse of debris that the Lions could blast their way out with conventional weapons. Allura smiled as she said, "Time to move a mountain." She paused. "Keith. Come on, Commander."

"Allura?"

The princess smiled. Keith was still out of it. He rarely called her Allura and she didn't think he had ever called her that when they were in a combat situation. "Yes, Keith. It's Allura. I'm getting ready to turn on Blue Lion's water cannon. It will create a tunnel that we can follow to get out of the rubble. You'll need to stick close behind me as there will be some collapsing of the tunnel and the rock around us."

"Got it," Keith's voice sounded stronger. "My sensors aren't working very well, but I think once you start moving I'll be able to pick that up and follow you."

"Stick close, Keith. We're getting ready to move a mountain."

"What did you just say?"

Allura didn't respond but just smiled as she said, "Stick close." She fired the cannon and as predicted, it was able to force the rocks and dirt away so that the Lions could move forward.

As they rocketed free of the mountain rubble, Keith moved Black to the front and called out for the team to form Voltron. This time there was no battle cruiser to stop them. The battle only took about ten minutes and then Voltron was standing victorious once again.

.**********.

 _After the Force has returned to the Castle of Lions…_

Keith sat on the edge of the bed in MedBay. The team had all come with him and then left when he convinced them he was going to be all right. Dr. Gorma had sealed up a small cut on his head that had made him look like he was injured much more than he was. A sound drew his attention and he turned to the door expecting to see Gorma who had gone to get him some meds for his pounding headache. Instead he saw the princess.

"What are you still doing here, Princess? I'm fine you know," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I know," she responded shyly. "It's just there's something I wanted to ask."

"What is it?"

"This morning I overheard you talking with the guys and you were discussing faith."

A light of understanding lit Keith's eyes. "Faith that can move mountains. You mentioned moving a mountain when you went to use the water cannon."

"Yes. I- I had prayed to whatever God you worship and asked that he help me save you. It was right after that that the idea of water came to me. Do you think it was an answer to prayer or just a coincidence?" Allura asked as she stepped closer to the bed.

Keith looked into her eyes. "I don't believe in coincidence, Princess. I think things happen because they are meant to be. Whether good or bad there is a purpose. I have faith that in the end, good will triumph and evil will perish. I might not know how it all works for that purpose until I die, but I have faith that one day I will know."

Allura stepped closer. "You've never talked like this before."

"No. I tend to be rather quiet about personal matters."

"Oh."

"But I'd be happy to talk with you about my faith. If you want to learn more," Keith replied softly.

She did want to know more. He didn't believe in coincidence which meant he felt that he was meant to be here. Did he also feel that he was meant to be with her? "So you don't believe it was happenstance that led you to here at this place and time?"

"No," Keith paused as if making a decision. "I know I'm where I'm supposed to be and I'm with people I'm supposed to be with."

Allura stepped closer. Her leg brushed against his but neither moved. "People?"

"People in general and one person in particular," he said as he looked at her.

"Oh," she said again softly. "Who- Um… Who-" she stammered.

"I think you know," Keith said quietly as he leaned forward. Allura did the same and their lips brushed. When they pulled back, Keith asked, "Do you think we can convince Coran and Nanny that this is a good thing?"

Allura looked into the dark eyes of the man she loved. "I have faith that we can."

Keith smiled at her and both leaned in for another kiss. Convincing Nanny that her princess should marry a pilot might be more than moving a mountain, but then, faith has always been known to do the impossible.


End file.
